I was trimming the black, spent traps from my plant and noticed this tan/brown material near the base of the roots. I started digging it out, because it doesn’t look like the black roots previously described in the forum, and noticed it’s also under the soil surface around the root system. Is this a fungus that should be removed? If so, how is the best way to do so without harming my plant? Thanks for the help!

Is that a Lowe’s or Walmart VFT? They will often times be wrapped with sphagnum moss (the brown/tan stuff you pulled out) around the roots and then be placed into the pot and the space filled with peat moss. It is perfectly normal. Just leave it be. It is a great media for them to be in. That’s what I use for most of mine.

A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in--what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.Victor Hugo, Les Misérables